Beijing Love Story is one of Mainland China's largest modern drama productions, costing RMB30 million yuan. The idea for Beijing Love Story was first formed during the filming of Soldier Sortie, and is written and directed by one of its actors, Chen Sicheng, and produced by another one – Li Chen. Opposite them are the four female leads of the show – Gong’s Tong Liya and Yang Mi and upcoming actresses Mo Xiaoqi and Chen Xiyi. The show also guest stars Feng Shaofeng, Qiao Zhengyu, Yuan Wenkang, Wang Baoqiang, Dong Xuan, Qin Lan etc.

For some reason I'm having trouble loading the long one. From the YM-cut vid though it looks quite promising...finally a more serious drama and a plot that makes sense, LOL! TLY is the lead here so it's like a reversal of "Gong", haha--YM's character (as a gold-digger girl who ditches her super-sweet college boyfriend for a rich playboy) is the type I'd usually hate...but I guess I'm too much of a fan now because from the trailer I actually feel sorry for her. >_< I should be cheering on Li Chen to dump her but instead I just want him to get back together with her.

Her acting in here also seems a lot better than her other modern-day drama (Symphony of Fate), including her voice-acting, which is funny since this was filmed first. I guess she finds it easier to do serious acting in these serious dramas as opposed to cheesy idol dramas? Haha. Plus this role seems much more interesting/complex/grey than her "goody-two-shoes", "sweet but too typical/bland" character in SoF. (Even though I enjoyed SoF--mostly for the FengMi scenes--and I wouldn't call her acting "bad" in there, it just failed to captivate me like her other roles have. Although again, probably that was partially due to the more boring personality of her Anqi character in there.)

As far as I know this still begins airing on Jan. 07, can't wait!

Other dramas:

In other minor drama news, Tengxun is saying they will be airing Gong 2 exclusively online in the middle of January...which I guess means Hunan will also be airing it around the same time? (Since I can't imagine it getting an online release ahead of its television release.) Too bad...I'd rather they air "Ru Yi" first. (On the other hand, at least this way "Ru Yi" won't clash with "Beijing Love Story" in Jan.)

(Sadly, still no news on my 2 most anticipated dramas, HFCQ and DQZD...sigh. CCTV, what is taking you guys so long... )

This drama has been jokingly referred to as "soldiers meet palace maids". (Since the male leads gained fame from that popular soldier drama while Tong Liya/Yang Mi gained fame due to "Gong".) I like that, as with other modern Chinese series, we get to hear the original voices of the actors (although personally I do prefer dubbing by professional voice actors in ancient series).

I'll update with YT links to the trailer: (thanks to shaz in the YM thread for pointing them out and Ygc2 for uploading them)

Yang Mi cut of trailer:

I love the theme song "Zai Jian Qing Chun", i.e. "Goodbye my youth" (heard at the end of the trailer), sung by Wang Feng. Can't really describe it but it evokes a very tragic feeling...very fitting for this drama, describing the trials and tribulations of the lives of several youth in modern-day Beijing...

I usually don't enjoy watching modern-day dramas that much, but this one has definitely caught my interest. I like both Chen Sicheng and Li Chen despite not having really seen much of them, and of course I love Yang Mi and Tong Liya as well! ^_^ Oh, plus I love Yuan Wenkang (YM's other love interest in the series, the rich abusive playboy). I've read some complaints that the styling for this series is not that flattering (especially for the girls since YM/TLY are both known for being very beautiful), however I think they look fine--and besides, they are supposed to portray more-or-less "normal Beijing girls"...this isn't an idol drama, it is more depicting real life and society, so I don't think the point is to make all the actors look drop-dead gorgeous, lol.

Oh, can I just add, the "guest star" list in this drama is pretty impressive--I was surprised how many famous faces I saw at the end in the trailer, and it seems like they didn't even include all the cameos (just the "bigger" ones)! O_o

I just heard Chen Sicheng and Tong Liya are apparently dating. I always thought Chen Sicheng was dating Cao Wenxi? I think Yu Zheng spilled some juicy gossips that it was Chen Sicheng who didn't want Tong Liya to return to act in his productions. Now rumors are spreading about Li Chen and Zhang Xinyi being an item. It seems Beijing Love Story hooked up a lot of people. HAHA

Fashion iFeng takes a pic of Chen Sicheng and Tong Liya holidaying in New York with the caption "New York Love Story". Looks like they are practically announcing their dating status to the weibo world.
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Was the end a little strange?

Did anyone think the end was strange? Like time stopped as they were waiting for Tong Liya's character to wake up from her coma. Seemed unresolved - but maybe they were going for an edgier feel instead of the prototypical happy ending.